NARRATOR: A star gate
encoded in the dome of our
nation's Capitol...
Strange symbols found on our
most famous monuments...
And a mysterious flying disc
appearing in a painting of
George Washington.
What is the meaning behind
secret messages found throughout
our nation's capital?
And might there be more to
America's origins than we've
been told?
CHRIS PITTMAN: For Benjamin
Franklin, belief in
extraterrestrials was part of a
scientific view of the world.
BILL BIRNES: Thomas Jefferson
still remains as the highest
public official ever to make a
report of a UFO in American
history.
DAVID CHILDRESS: We have to
wonder if extraterrestrials were
there monitoring our progress.
NARRATOR: Millions of people
around the world believe we have
been visited in the past by
extraterrestrial beings.
What if it were true?
Did ancient aliens really help
to shape our history?
And could extraterrestrial
forces have been behind
the founding of the United
States of America?
NARRATOR: Washington, D.C.,
July 19, 1952.
Tensions between the United
States and the Soviet Union are
at an all time high, fueled by
the Soviets' opposition to
American involvement in the
Korean War.
At this critical juncture, an
air traffic controller at
Washington National Airport
picks up seven strange objects
on his radar screen.
But he quickly determines the
aircraft are not Soviet
military.
PITTMAN: From the tower, they
were also able to see very large
bright lights moving very
quickly, speeding away at
very high speeds or simply
disappearing.
BIRNES: They didn't just
appear and go.
They appeared over the Capitol
Building.
Over the skies over the White
House.
Over the Washington Monument.
NARRATOR: Fighter jets are
scrambled to intercept the
objects.
But as the jets close in, all
seven suddenly disappear.
PITTMAN: Some Air Force
officers reported that airmen
had tried to shoot down UFOs but
had not been able to because the
UFOs were able to fly faster
than our aircraft.
NARRATOR: Days after the
breach of capital airspace,
Major General John Samford,
Director of Intelligence for the
United States Air Force,
addressed the issue at a
Pentagon press conference.
SAMFORD: We have received and
analyzed between 1,000 and
2,000 reports.
There have been a certain
percentage that have been made
by credible observers of
relatively incredible things.
BIRNES: Washington was the
capital of the United States.
So the point was to demonstrate
at the height of of the Cold
War, that they were a power
greater than us.
CHILDRESS: It's sometimes
thought that during periods of
political upheaval, and turning
points in history that these
extraterrestrials suddenly show
up.
NARRATOR: What were these
strange lights that penetrated
the airspace of the U.S.
capital?
Could they have been, as ancient
astronaut theorists suggest,
alien craft... sent here to
monitor this turning point in
our history?
If so, even as far back as the
founding of the United States of
America?
CHILDRESS: Just prior to the
Revolutionary War, what a lot
of the scientists would do at
that time was meet once a month
during the full moon, and they
called themselves the Lunar
Society.
And Benjamin Franklin and
Thomas Jefferson were part of
all this.
And they would meet to discuss
new scientific ideas, life on
other planets, and how they
could create a United States
that was different from other
countries.
NARRATOR: On July 4, 1776...
in the midst of the American
Revolution... the colonies
formally severed their ties to
England.
The men behind the movement...
the Founding Fathers... had
risked, in the words of the
Declaration of Independence,
"their lives, their fortunes and
their sacred honor" on an ideal
and now looked to create, not
just a new nation, but a new
world.
But unlike the monarchies of
Europe and Asia, the new
American government would
eventually be based on the
ancient philosophies of Greece
and Rome.
GEORGIO TSOUKALOS: When it
took you four days to get from
Virginia to New York, in the
middle of the night with their
kerosene lamps and their candles
they read the ancient Greek
classics.
How did they found the United
States?
On principles of the ancient
world.
AKRAM ELIAS: Having a bunch
of men, geniuses in their own
right at all levels, gathered at
one point in time to try to come
up with a new experiment for
humanity.
It is extraordinary.
The Romans used to call it
Fortuna.
Or in other words, when the gods
conspire on your behalf.
NARRATOR: After the war, on
July 16, 1790, plans were
announced for the construction
of a national capital to be
built on the banks of the
Potomac River.
Named after George Washington,
the new nation's first
president, it would be designed
to resemble classic Greco-Roman
architecture.
But why?
What was the reason behind the
Founding Fathers' near-obsession
with the ancient world?
MICHAEL CROWE: In the 5th
century, 4th century before
Christ there was a very active
debate in regard to the question
of extraterrestrial life.
The atomists, being Democritus,
Leucippus, Epicurus and
Lucretius, all believed in the
plurality of worlds, or believed
in extraterrestrial life.
NARRATOR: For the Founding
Fathers, this idea of the
plurality of worlds was
well-known as one of the
cornerstones of ancient
philosophy... one that was
finding greater popularity in
what was known in the 18th
century as, "The Age of
Enlightenment."
MARK RIVERA: The
Enlightenment was a social
movement that said we should
look at the universe in a
rational way.
And that was the hub of the
wheel, so to speak.
And from that hub, many spokes
came out.
You had a concern with
science, and you had belief in
the plurality of worlds, which
seemed scientifically plausible.
CROWE: The Enlightenment
figures, at least half...
including scientists, political
theorists, philosophers,
literary people... talked about
extraterrestrials in their
writings.
It was very widespread in
18th century thought.
NARRATOR: Even one of the
most prominent astronomers of
the time, William Herschel,
believed that intelligent life
existed elsewhere in the
universe.
SARA SEAGER: His claim to
fame is he discovered the planet
Uranus.
He also discovered a couple of
moons of Jupiter and a couple of
moons of Saturn, and he built
hundreds of telescopes including
the largest one of its day.
DERRICK PITTS: He has a
40-inch reflecting telescope.
This is an enormous instrument
anywhere in the world at
that time.
So he now has the ability to
observe all sorts of wonders of
the universe.
So now the idea of the plurality
of worlds gains credence with
this particular scientist
and observer.
CROWE: Regularly in his
writings about the planets, he
referred to the inhabitants of
Jupiter, Saturn or Uranus.
NARRATOR: Herschel was
instrumental in furthering the
debate about the possibility of
extraterrestrial life.
But perhaps most influential of
all was Benjamin Franklin.
PITTMAN: Ben Franklin has
been called the first American.
He was an author and a printer.
He was a scientist and an
inventor, and also a politician
and a statesman.
He was a profound thinker and
an intellectual.
For Benjamin Franklin, a belief
in extraterrestrials was part of
a scientific view of the world.
NARRATOR: One way Franklin
used to disseminate his thoughts
on extraterrestrial life was
in his own publication,
the immensely popular
Poor Richard's Almanac.
STEVEN BULLOCK: In Poor
Richard's Almanac, well, he
suggests that it's the opinion
of scientists that other planets
are habitable, that there are
beings on there.
And he presents this in a sort
of matter-of-fact way.
It's kind of surprising, I
think, probably even to most
historians the way which this
seems to be something which he
takes for granted.
It's just assumed that way.
TSOUKALOS: In 1728, Benjamin
Franklin wrote, "I believe that
man is not the most perfect
being, but one.
So there are many degrees of
beings superior to him."
Franklin essentially suggested
that extraterrestrial life
exists.
NARRATOR: But the ancient
philosophers were not the only
influence on the Founding
Fathers' growing openness to the
idea of extraterrestrial life.
The Native Americans they
encountered not only shared the
belief that life exists
throughout the universe, but
even believed they were the
descendants of
extraterrestrials.
WILLIAM HENRY: Benjamin
Franklin was deeply interested
in the star legends of the
Native Americans.
He was deeply connected with
the legends of the Iroquois
Confederacy.
DONALD GRINDE: Franklin's
Indian treaties were pamphlets
that he published from the 1730s
to the 1760s.
They frequently recorded
explanations of native culture.
NARRATOR: One of Franklin's
best-selling pamphlets
chronicled the Iroquois creation
story of the Sky Woman.
GRINDE: Before Earth really
became what it is today, there
were beings that were similar to
us living in the sky.
One day, a young woman... Sky
Woman, as she is to become...
became pregnant.
She is to go down to the world
below.
So this extraterrestrial
that lived in the sky, she
comes down, and then the human
race begins.
NARRATOR: Did America's
Founding Fathers really believe
in the possibility of life on
other planets?
And if so, was their belief
based not only on scientific
and philosophical principles,
but on firsthand experiences
with extraterrestrials?
Ancient astronaut theorists
believe that such a notion is
not only possible, but that the
evidence exists in a firsthand
account from one of George
Washington's closest aides,
and his recollection of a
strange, close encounter on
a cold winter night at
Valley Forge.
NARRATOR: Valley Forge,
Pennsylvania, winter, 1777.
It is the height of the American
Revolutionary War.
After several bloody battles
against superior British forces,
George Washington's army is
in tatters.
BULLOCK: Valley Forge is the
winter encampment of the
Continental Army, the army which
is set up by the nation to fight
the Revolution.
The British have taken
Philadelphia.
Washington decides he is
going to headquarter some
12,000 troops right outside
of Philadelphia.
GRINDE: This is the darkest
time of the American Revolution,
when people thought that the
United States was really not
going to win.
BULLOCK: Washington is trying
to figure out what he's going
to do, and trying to keep the
army together.
There's very little money.
There's almost no supplies.
They often don't have shoes.
Lots of stories of things like
bloody footprints in the snow.
NARRATOR: So severe were the
conditions that Washington
wrote, "Unless some great and
capital change suddenly takes
place, this army must inevitably
starve, dissolve or disperse."
But ultimately, Washington's
will to remain at Valley Forge
forced the British to retreat
and proved to be a turning point
in the war.
What was it that sustained
Washington in these dark hours?
Some believe it was a strange
vision he received during a
moment of prayer.
BIRNES: In a moment of
absolute misery, he went off
into the woods to pray.
And there in the forest, he had
this magnificent vision of a
creature garbed in white.
And this creature... call it an
extraterrestrial, call it a
heavenly spirit, but it was an
otherworldly presence... laid out
for Washington the victory that
the Continental Army would have
in the Revolutionary War against
the British, and laid out the
history of the new United States
of America.
TSOUKALOS: He sees a map of
the United States, and rain
drops onto this map, and cities
are popping up throughout the
entire country.
A model of how the United States
would look 100 or 200 years in
the future.
BIRNES: Now, how do we
know this?
We know this because an aide to
General Washington lived to be
over 100 years old, told this
story to a newspaper of our
first general having an alien
encounter.
NARRATOR: Could George
Washington really have had
an alien visitation at
Valley Forge?
Or was this just a story he told
to build up morale?
Ancient astronaut theorists
claim to have also uncovered
evidence that throughout the
Revolutionary War, George
Washington himself may have
unknowingly come in direct
contact with extraterrestrials.
CHILDRESS: One of the
strangest stories about George
Washington, which allegedly
comes from diaries that he
kept... that Washington would
meet occasionally with these
mysterious people that he called
"Green Skins."
BIRNES: Washington sees a
green glowing ball hovering in
the tree line, and out of this,
Washington sees these small
figures.
What were they?
Were they, as Washington thought
they might have been, small
Native Americans in war paint?
One theory is that these were
extraterrestrials, observing
this cataclysmic event.
PITTMAN: George Washington's
vision at Valley Forge during
the Revolutionary War is just
one example of a great many
stories that we have about
miraculous visions and
apparitions during times of war
and bloodshed.
Some people believe that
it's during these crucial times
in human history that perhaps
aliens would be most interested
in interacting with us.
NARRATOR: Did George
Washington really encounter
green-skinned aliens and witness
glowing orbs at Valley Forge?
And, if so, might there be
additional evidence of alien
encounters with other Founding
Fathers?
April 5, 1800.
The city of Baton Rouge,
Louisiana.
Astronomer William Dunbar
reports to then Vice President
Jefferson that he witnessed
a bright glowing light
the size of a large house
hovering 200 yards above ground.
PITTS: it was quite bright,
radiated a tremendous amount of
heat and crashed not so far
away.
It destroyed that whole area
where it crashed.
However, given the supposed size
and speed with which the object
was moving, it didn't seem to
create a crater of a size that
would've been appropriate for an
object like that.
PITTMAN: The details of the
sighting report make it
impossible that it could have
been a meteor:, it wasn't moving
fast enough to be a meteor.
It was something unexplained,
something very unusual.
And Jefferson took this report
very seriously.
He passed this report on as he
would pass on any other account
of a scientific discovery or a
natural observation.
BIRNES: Jefferson was so
impressed by the account that
Jefferson, Vice President of the
United States, presented this to
the American Philosophical
Society.
PITTS: So who was this
American Philosophical Society,
anyway?
Well, it was founded by Benjamin
Franklin in Philadelphia, and it
really was the intellectual
cognoscenti of America at that
time.
So here we have some of the
greatest thinkers here in the
United States, all pooled
together in one group that could
write research papers, write
philosophical papers, examine
all sorts of phenomena from a
scientific point of view.
PITTMAN: it's no
coincidence that Thomas
Jefferson and Benjamin Franklin
both believed in
extraterrestrial life.
They were men of science, they
were astronomers who studied
weather patterns.
And their belief in
extraterrestrials was part of
their scientific view of the
world and of the universe.
BIRNES: For Thomas Jefferson
to report a UFO sighting still
remains the highest public
official ever to make a report
of a UFO in American history.
NARRATOR: George
Washington's close encounter
with an otherworldly being...
Thomas Jefferson reporting a UFO
sighting... could these
incidents suggest that the
Founding Fathers not only
believed in the existence of
extraterrestrials, but actually
encountered them?
Perhaps the answer can be found
hidden in the symbols and codes
of a secret society, one to
which Washington himself was a
member.
NARRATOR: Fredericksburg,
Virginia.
1752.
20-year-old George Washington is
initiated into a secret society:
the Freemasons.
Among his fellow members are
many other Founding Fathers,
like Benjamin Franklin, John
Hancock and Paul Revere.
But what is Freemasonry?
What role did it play in the
founding of the United States?
And what meanings lie behind
their many mysterious symbols?
ELIAS: There are a lot of
theories about the true origins
of Freemasonry.
What we know for a fact is that
definitely with the Age of the
Renaissance, this is when people
decided to start studying
ancient civilizations and see
was there any knowledge in those
civilizations that was lost?
NARRATOR: According to
experts, the Freemasons believe
in the idea of acquiring
knowledge through largely
scientific as well as spiritual
means.
In the Age of Enlightenment,
this included examining the
possibility of extraterrestrial
life.
ELIAS: Freemasonry was like a
main vehicle, if you want, that
brought these ideas and
principles of the Enlightenment
into the New World.
RIVERA: You had the most
prominent citizens of the
community becoming Freemasons
and then associating with one
another.
They would be discussing the
major issues of the day and
certainly the speculations about
the plurality of worlds.
NARRATOR: Could the growing
belief in the possibility of
extraterrestrial life have
influenced the Founding Fathers'
vision for America?
RIVERA: In terms of the
Declaration of independence,
there were 56 signers.
Of those, nine were definitely
Freemasons.
Concerning the signers of the
Constitution, there were 39
signers, 13 of them... a clear
third... were Freemasons.
NARRATOR: But does the
influence of Freemasonry explain
why Masonic values are woven
into the principles behind
America's most important
documents?
And could this also explain how
and why Masonic symbols can be
found on much of the nation's
monuments and architecture?
ELIAS: In the design of
Washington, the language of
symbols is very important, and
that's where we see connections
with Freemasonry.
The original universal symbol of
Freemasonry is the square and
compass.
The compass is the main tool of
the individual.
You are at the point, and the
idea in Freemasonry is that the
individual is sovereign.
You draw a circle, using the
compass, around you.
If you go beyond the perimeter,
that's when you start to go into
knowledge and light.
The square is considered a
symbol of wisdom.
And the letter "G" stands for
the grand architect of the
universe.
RIVERA: People have to
wonder whether Franklin's
beliefs about the plurality of
worlds somehow made their way
into Masonic symbolism.
The same people who were
involved in the development
of Freemasonry were very
interested in Egypt.
They were inspired by the idea
of ancient wisdom.
NARRATOR: Other Masonic
symbols found in Washington
D.C. are eerily similar to
the icons of ancient Egypt... the
sphinx, the obelisk, the pyramid
and the All-Seeing Eye.
CHILDRESS: if you were to
pull out a dollar bill right now
and look at it, you would see
that on one side is a depiction
of the Great Pyramid of Egypt
with an all-seeing eye at its
apex.
This is the Great Seal of the
United States, and it's an
awesome, mystical symbol of, of
the eye of God watching us.
And also how ancient
civilizations were divine
in nature.
And that the Founding Fathers
were to recreate that here in
the United States.
EAS: The idea is we need a
source of light in order to help
us become enlightened.
We cannot do it alone.
Now that to the Founding Fathers
is whatever is out there that
is keeping an eye.
And there is a belief that this
experiment did not just happen.
It was necessary to help the
human condition make a
major leap.
It's like the alignment of
the stars, providence was there
watching and interacting.
NARRATOR: Why did this
group of 18th-century men
who set out to build
a nation based on principles of
logic and reason attach such
importance to pre-Christian
symbols and ancient mysticism?
And who... or what... did they
believe was watching over them?
God? Or something else?
According to ancient astronaut
theorists, the answer can be
found in an 1866 lithograph of
George Washington that resides
in the Library of Congress.
CHILDRESS: There's a famous
painting of George Washington as
a Freemason.
And over his right shoulder
is an unusual scene of Jacob's
Ladder ascending to Heaven and
what seems to be some kind of
spaceship there in the sky.
NARRATOR: In the Biblical
story of Jacob from Genesis 28,
Jacob witnesses angels ascending
and descending a ladder
from Heaven.
But in this painting, the ladder
comes not from Heaven, but out
of a dark, round object emitting
multi-colored lights.
Although Jacob's Ladder is a
popular symbol of Freemasonry,
is it possible that this image
is attempting to depict
something else?
Something of an extraterrestrial
origin?
TSOUKALOS: According to the
ancient astronaut ideas, Jacob's
Ladder was nothing else but a
ramp or a device with which to
reach the realm of the gods.
And the gods were
extraterrestrials.
NARRATOR: The square and
compass...
the All-Seeing Eye...
Jacob's Ladder.
What do all these symbols reveal
about the true origins of the
United States of America?
Ancient astronaut theorists
don't only point to the presence
of Masonic symbols and
pre-Christian influences as
evidence of the Founding
Fathers' extraterrestrial
connections.
They also find proof in the fact
that even the very layout of
Washington D.C.
points to the stars.
NARRATOR: Alexandria,
Virginia, 1791
In a full Masonic ceremony on
the edge of the Potomac River,
George Washington lays the first
cornerstone marking the southern
boundary for what will become
the District of Columbia.
ELIAS: What happens in the
laying of the cornerstone?
Washington scattered corn.
You pour wine and pour oil.
Now, corn stands for prosperity,
oil stands for peace,
and wine stands for happiness.
BULLOCK: You have Masons
chanting in response to it.
You have an oration afterwards
in which artillery is fired
during... during the oration.
So it's an extraordinary kind
of ceremony.
NARRATOR: According to
scholars, the nation's capital
has been steeped in ancient
symbolism since its inception.
And ancient astronaut theorists
point to the city's tallest
structure, the Washington
Monument, as proof that the
American capital was built with
a deliberate eye to the stars.
Although construction began in
1848, nearly 50 years after
George Washington's death, the
Freemasons built the
Egyptian-style monument so that
the constellation Pleiades would
be visible directly over the
giant obelisk.
PITTS: The Pleiades is a
group of seven bright stars.
For the Egyptians, they
would use these stars as a way
to figure out all sorts of
judgments that needed to be made
in many different things.
TSOUKALOS: I find it
fascinating that in the ancient
world in places of great power
and great influence they built
monuments aligned with
the Pleiades.
So the fact that we find the
Washington Monument also
aligning with the Pleiades...
is that coincidence?
NARRATOR: In a city largely
built to evoke ancient cities
like Athens and Rome, is the
dominant architectural structure
based on an icon of ancient
Egypt?
RIVERA: it is the largest
obelisk in the world, 555 feet
high.
It draws the eye and it draws
the eye up.
We have to ask, what did
the Founding Fathers
want us to see?
HENRY: The idea of the
obelisk is that it's frozen
sunlight.
They believed that the energy
of the God Ra literally came
through that antenna.
The same concept is shown here
in Washington D.C. with the
obelisk sitting in the center of
Washington or near the center
of Washington, bringing that
energy in from the stars and
radiating it outward into the
sacred precinct.
ELIAS: They have a reflecting
pool... why?
To reflect the obelisk.
Washington's Monument points
to the Heavens.
With the reflecting pool,
it points below.
There is a direct correlation
between what happens here below
and what's happening up there.
NARRATOR: For ancient
astronaut theorists, it's not
just the placement of the
Washington Monument and the
Capitol Building that point to
the stars, but the layout of the
entire city, which harkens back
to ancient places like Egypt,
Greece and Rome.
RIVERA: Washington D.C. is
laid out in perfectly straight
lines, radiating from different
little hubs around the city.
They converge on places like
the Capitol Building,
the White House.
It is a revelation of clarity
that highlights the cornerstones
of American democracy.
HENRY: Washington D.C. was
conceived from the very
beginning as a sacred space.
In fact, it is a ten-by-ten
square-mile diamond matrix into
which the Founding Fathers
believed they could pour all
their Enlightenment teachings
and bring them to life within
its Capitols and its
other buildings.
NARRATOR: Another Freemason,
Pierre Charles L'Enfant, was
selected by President Washington
to create a layout of the city
within the ten-mile diamond of
the District of Columbia.
He began by aligning the corners
of the square with the four
cardinal directions: north,
south, east and west.
ELIAS: it is not by
coincidence.
There is a scientific
rational way of developing the
city of Washington with
geometric shapes... circles,
rectangles, triangles... and this
is to emphasize that this new
form of government was not going
to rely on religion...
but we're going to rely on
reason and scientific discovery.
And the design of the city
reflects that.
And there is absolutely no other
capital city in the world that
was designed like this.
There is no question that
the main triangle at the
heart of the city was very key,
and connecting the Capitol to
the White House, and then to the
Washington Monument.
NARRATOR: Some historians
believe the triangle found
in the center of Washington D.C.
was designed for the Masonic
symbol of the square and
compass, representing the
Founding Fathers' search for
enlightenment from above.
But ancient astronaut theorists
claim beyond this triangle lies
an even more significant
geometric shape...
the shape of a star.
BIRNES: The interesting thing
about Jefferson's influence on
the design of Washington D.C.
was the star...
With rows emanating in all
directions from the star that
seemed to be a mirror of the
Heavens, because Jefferson did
believe that the Heavens were
inhabited, and he wanted
Washington D.C., not just to be
the capital of the United States
of America, but the capital of
the universe.
NARRATOR: George Washington
and Thomas Jefferson were both
expert surveyors and mapmakers,
and were hands on in the layout
and design of the new capital.
BIRNES: George Washington
and Thomas Jefferson, who
was an architect that built
Monticello, laid out Washington
D.C. with the expectation that
somehow, if there were
extraterrestrials, they would
see the image of the star at the
center of the city, and know
this was a sign that we
respected extraterrestrial life.
NARRATOR: Did the design and
placement of the Washington
Monument, Capitol Hill and the
National Mall really reflect the
Founding Fathers' belief in
extraterrestrial forces?
Perhaps the answer can be found
by a close examination of the
Capitol Building itself, and
the strange connection to other
worlds that can be found inside.
NARRATOR: Washington, D.C.,
1791.
Jenkins Hill.
Pierre L'Enfant declares this
location "a pedestal waiting for
a monument."
For the next two years, he
works closely with
George Washington and Thomas
Jefferson, designing the
building that will sit at the
top of this hill and house the
United States Congress.
On September 18, 1793, the day
of the Autumn Equinox,
Washington lays the cornerstone
for the Capitol Building, and
Jenkins Hill officially becomes
Capitol Hill, the heart of the
new democracy.
HENRY: The concept of the
ancient and sacred hill was
deeply in the minds of the
Founding Fathers.
In Boston we have high hills
that were important.
We have Monticello being built
on a hill, we have Capitol Hill.
So the Founding Fathers clearly
understood the importance of the
Temple Mount concept.
NARRATOR: But was the design
and placement of the Capitol
Building directly influenced by
Washington and Jefferson's
reported contact with alien
beings?
Ancient astronaut theorists
point to evidence in the form of
the statue that still sits atop
the Capitol Dome, placed there
after the current dome was
completed in 1866.
HENRY: The Freedom Statue is
a 19-and-a-half-foot-tall
statue of a goddess who actually
is morphing into an eagle.
This is very important in
ancient alien theory, because
the ancient gods were portrayed
as eagle-headed.
So it looks like freedom is
being referenced here as a star
being.
NARRATOR: inside the dome,
directly in line with the
Freedom Statue, is an empty tomb
that had been designed to hold
the remains of George
Washington.
One floor above it is the crypt,
then the Capitol Rotunda, and
soaring 180 feet
above that is a painting of
Washington, looking very much
like an ancient god.
PITTS: if one goes to the
Capitol Rotunda and looks at the
artwork on the ceiling you see
what's called the "apotheosis of
Washington."
it's an enormous painting
that depicts Washington
in a very interesting setting.
HENRY: The painting was
completed by Constantino Brumidi
in 1865.
The word "apotheosis" is a Greek
word that means to deify, to
raise from a man to a god man.
PITTS: You see him depicted
as you would see a god depicted.
He sits in a setting of clouds
with what look like angels
immediately surrounding him,
with a big rainbow that runs
right underneath his feet.
HENRY: When we're in the
Rotunda, the dome of the U.S.
Capitol, we are literally in
a vortex of energy.
Domes are places where
Heaven and Earth meet.
They literally are considered to
be portals or gateways to the
stars.
NARRATOR: There is another
depiction of Washington that
specifically represents him as a
divine figure.
BIRNES: Congress
authorized an incredible statue
of George Washington by
Greenough in which he's depicted
as Zeus, or Jupiter.
HENRY: The statue had several
key features that identified him
as a man of peace and a
conductor of Heaven and Earth.
His sword is offered to the
viewer of the statue, indicating
he's here in peace.
And then on the sides of the
statue you have a very important
representation of the god Apollo
riding his sun chariot or star
chariot.
So the idea that we get from all
of this is that Washington is a
cosmic being who is riding
through the Heavens on his own
star chariot.
NARRATOR: Could the symbols,
monuments and alignments found
throughout Washington D.C.
be evidence that the Founding
Fathers actually believed
otherworldly beings were
instrumental if the new American
experiment in government were to
survive and prosper?
Was their interest in the stars,
and their belief in the
possibility that intelligent
life exists elsewhere in the
universe, based on the ideas of
the Enlightenment, or actual
close encounters?
PITTMAN: We've gone from
Benjamin Franklin's electricity
experiments to space travel in
less than 250 years.
And it's brought about really
vast changes in American
society.
But what hasn't changed is that
desire to know more about space
and that desire to find out is
there really life outside of our
planet?
PITTS: Not only is the
Founding Fathers' belief in
the plurality of worlds alive
today, it also is being pursued
scientifically in a way that
they had no capability to do.
And this is a concept that has
been considered ever since the
first person looked up at the
night sky and wondered about
what's out there.
NARRATOR: Did George
Washington receive some secret
knowledge at Valley Forge that
guided him in the founding of
the United States?
Did he share this information
with other Founding Fathers,
like Thomas Jefferson and
Benjamin Franklin?
And did they, in turn, pass this
knowledge down to the men who
followed them?
If extraterrestrials really were
present during the founding of
the United States, did they come
here to watch over us?
Was there some ultimate plan?
And if so, will they return once
more?
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